Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

open

/ˈoʊ.pən/

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.48 in modern English

Syllables: o-pen
IPA: /ˈoʊ.pən/

6

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

2

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.

adj

Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.

adj

Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.

adj

Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.

adj

Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.

adj

Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.

adj

Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.

adj

Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.

Example Sentences

"Come in – the door's open."
"The ice has cleared and the channel is open again."
"she had heard stories about him, flutters of talk through open doors."
"The jewellery box was lying open."
"Don't just stand there with your mouth open!"
"Along the street ran an open sewer."

Etymology

Adjective from Middle English open, from Old English open (“open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opan, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo (“up from under, over”). Cognates * Scots apen (“open”) * Saterland Frisian eepen (“open”) * West Frisian iepen (“open”) * Cimbrian offe (“open”) * Dutch open (“open”) * German offen (“open”) * Vilamovian ufa, uffa (“open”) * Yiddish אָפֿן (ofn, “open”) * Danish åben (“open”) * Icelandic opinn (“open”) * Norwegian Bokmål åpen (“open”) * Norwegian Nynorsk open (“open”) * Swedish öppen (“open”) Compare also Latin supinus (“on one's back, supine”), Albanian hap (“to open”). Related to up. Verb from Middle English openen, from Old English openian (“to open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opanōn, from Proto-Germanic *upanōną (“to raise; lift; open”), from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”, adjective). Cognate with Saterland Frisian eepenje (“to open”), West Frisian iepenje (“to open”), Dutch openen (“to open”), German öffnen (“to open”), Danish åbne (“to open”), Swedish öppna (“to open”), Norwegian Bokmål åpne (“to open”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Icelandic opna (“to open”). Related to English up. Noun from Middle English open (“an aperture or opening”), from the verb. In the sports sense, however, a shortening of “open competition”.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: open, *opan, *upanaz, *upo, openen, openian

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈoʊ.pən/
British English: /ˈəʊ.pən/

Usage

Inflected Forms

more open (comparative) opener (comparative) most open (superlative) openest (superlative) opens (present, singular) opening (participle, present) opened (participle, past) opened (past) no-table-tags (table tags) glossary (inflection template) opened (first person, past) openest (archaic, present)

Derived Forms

clopen fauxpen nonopen openable openbill OpenBSD opencast openhand openhearted openness openside openture

Phrases

at church every time the doors are open at church every time the doors swing open blow wide open break open byway open to all traffic cracked open crack open distinguished open set

Synonyms

open-face open-faced accessible unimpeded free unseal raise start bare

Antonyms

closed shut without prejudice checked closed-source proprietary bare

Rhymes With

reopen copen koeppen crack open clopen

Questions

How do you pronounce open?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈoʊ.pən/.
What does open mean?: Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.
Where does open come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce open

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “open”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈoʊ.pən/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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